Events Archive

NYU Wagner’s International Public Service Association is excited to partner with the NYC Fair Trade Coalition to bring local fashion designers who adhere to Fair trade business practices in their production of clothing, jewelry and accessories. Come and learn about these amazing designers, vendors, and watch Wagner students strut their inner model down the runway! Join us for a night of fair trade fashion, food, shopping and fun!

Fair trade is a system of exchange that ensures livable wages to the workers, safe working conditions, and employing environmentally sound company practices. Typically when we think of ‘fair trade’ practices, agricultural products from bananas to coffee come to mind, but fair trade is not just about food. Everything from the clothes we wear to the pens we write with have impacts on the workers who make them.

The Fortune Society and the Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service present a production of the off-Broadway show Variety Magazine calls "profoundly eloquent."

The Castle II tells the story of four formerly imprisoned New Yorkers, with a total of 60 years of incarceration. Conceived and directed by Fortune Society founder David Rothenberg, and performed by those who lived the stories, these individuals share their stunningly raw journeys through crime, privation and redemption, all tied together by their shared time at The Fortune Society's flagship residential facility in Harlem, The Fortune Academy (a.k.a. "The Castle").

After the show, join us for a cocktail hour and an open dialogue about the work Fortune Society is doing to help Open the Door for individuals re-entering society.

About The Fortune Society The Fortune Society is a nationally renowned prisoner re-entry support organization founded in New York City in 1969. Its mission is to support successful reentry from prison and promote alternatives to incarcerations, thus strengthening the fabric of our communities.

Fortune Society serves more than 3,000 men and women annually through programs including Alternatives to Incarceration, drop-in services, employment and training services, education, family and health services, housing options and substance abuse treatment.

American Society for Public Administration Career Panel, Board Meeting, and Professional NetworkingPresented by Wagner Management and Leadership Organization

Join WMLO and the NY Metro chapter of the American Society for Public Administration (ASPA) for a career panel featuring local professionals followed by an ASPA board meeting and networking event. The career panel will feature ASPA members' diverse professions in NY and the role their ASPA membership has played. The panel will be followed by the monthly ASPA board meeting and networking with local members. This is a unique opportunity to learn more about ASPA and engage with accomplished professionals.

Panelists include: - Patricia M. Araujo, Federal Mediator, U.S Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, New York District Office - William Ciaccio, Senior Director, Metropolitan Transit Authority New York City Transit - Sheila Johnson, ASPA President, New York Metropolitan Chapter; Associate, Morgan Stanley; and Adjunct Lecturer of Public Administration, City University of New York - Carla Lewis-Irizarry, Brooklyn College Adjunct Lecturer, State Council Member, NYS Independent Living Council - Jonathan Vega, Supervising Investigator, New York City Department of Buildings and ASPA Board Member New York Metropolitan Chapter

The American Society for Public Administration (ASPA) is a national professional organization dedicated to better government and excellence in the public service. Established in 1939, ASPA is the largest and most prominent professional association in the field of public administration with a diverse membership of more than 10,000 practitioners, academicians and students.

Thinking Outside the Tent: Using Urban Planning in Post-Disaster Settings to Create Innovations in Humanitarian AssistancePresented by the International Public Service Association (IPSA) and the Urban Planning Student Association (UPSA)

Please join IPSA on April 19th from 5pm to 6:30pm for a special event entitled: "Thinking Outside the Tent: Using Urban Planning in Post-Disaster Settings to Create Innovations in Humanitarian Assistance". The event features Charles A. Setchell, Senior Shelter, Settlements, and Hazard Mitigation Advisor of USAID Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance. He will be discussing innovative response mechanisms post disaster, through an urban planning perspective. From neighborhood approaches, community planning, and host family innovations, Setchell draws on experience from Haiti, to Afghanistan, Honduras to Indonesia.

Local Governance and Food SystemsPresented by NYU Food Law, Wagner Food Policy Alliance, the Green Rabbits, and the NYU Department of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health

As enthusiasm for building sustainable local food systems continues to grow, the discussion is starting to shift from a focus on entrepreneurship and enlightened consumerism to the need for civic engagement around food issues. In response to this need for collaborative problem-solving in the public sphere, the number of food policy councils in North America has nearly doubled in the past two years, reaching almost 200, and a growing number of municipalities are actively engaged in food systems planning. New York City is at the forefront of this movement and this panel brings together some of the city’s leading figures in food policy and planning to discuss the role of local governance in building sustainable food systems.

Please join us in celebrating the opening of Continuum, the Spring-2013 exhibition at the Gallery Space at Wagner. Staged in recognition of the 50th anniversary of NYU Wagner’s urban planning program, the exhibit features mixed-media works on canvas and a sculptural installation by Chilean architect and visual artist Rodolfo Edwards.

With Continuum, Edwards delves further into his current studio practice by creating a series of deconstructed city landscapes and abstract configurations informed by his study of architecture, cartography, and urban design. Rich in color and compositional rhythm, the works are vividly populated by a complex array of patterns, grids, hues, and meticulously selected photographic fragments extracted from recycled materials. The compositions resulting from this intermingling of collage and painting techniques are at once intricate studies on perspective and spatial management and an absorbing display of pictorial narratives.

Continuum is curated by Frankie Crescioni-Santoni and co-presented by the Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development. The exhibit is co-sponsored by NYU Wagner’s Urban Planning Student Association (UPSA) and the Student Network Exploring Arts & Culture (SNEAC).

In an era of budget crises and heightened accountability, public schools, educators, and policymakers across the U.S. are increasingly turning to resources beyond traditional governmental funding. Major funders such as the Gates, Walton, and Broad Foundations have become leading players in shaping education policies, often aligned with reform-oriented policymakers. From Chicago, to D.C., to Miami, public education funds leverage private resources to help districts experiment with new innovations and support. For public charter schools that lack access to district economies of scale, external resources are often essential to securing physical space and serving all students.

Join WEPSA and Wagner Philanthropy for an interactive panel discussion on the role of these partnerships featuring Julia Bator, CEO of the Fund for Public Schools, Christina Brown, Chief of Staff at NYC Charter School Center, Recy Dunn Regional Director, New Leaders and Michael Duffy, adjunct associate professor of management at Wagner and Managing Director of Victory Education Partners. Light breakfast will be served.

To conclude the Mi Voz, My Vote series hosted by the Association of Latin@s and Allies in Public Service (ALAS), The Dream Act and Immigration Reform will explore issues related to The Dream Act and the policies that have taken shape around immigration reform. The event will feature a panel discussion, a Q&A session, and networking.

Aid and Developmen​t: The Future of AfricaPresented by the Wagner Student Alliance for Africa (WSAFA) Co-Sponsored by AFRIKANSPORT and Rock Me Africa Magazine

As we approach the end of the United Nations' Millenium Development Goals, the current debate is what comes after, what would be the role of Aid in solving developmental challenges on the African continent. We will explore this debate through the lens of Official Development Assistance (ODA) and other remittances, including the role of China.

The discourse will be centered on Aid in the current Africa landscape, the rise of new donors, changes in the way Aid is delivered, and the future of Aid landscape given the post-2015 MDGs debate.

The objective of this panel is to enlighten the public about the politics involved in Aid and international development, and also to review whether Aid is still necessary for Africa’s growth and development. Even though the continent has received over $1 Trillion in international Aid (ODA+), recent evidence still suggests that the greatest challenge of poverty reduction lies in Africa.

This panel will thus discuss the implications of foreign aid, the current state of foreign aid, and the future of foreign aid in Africa from various perspectives.

Please join us for a lecture and Q&A by Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus. Professor Yunus is best known as the founder of the Grameen Bank and as a passionate advocate for microcredit and social enterprise. In 2006, Professor Yunus and Grameen Bank were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Professor Yunus has won awards and accolades worldwide for his work. He is one of only seven people to have won the Nobel Peace Prize, Presidential Medal of Freedom, and Congressional Gold Medal.

Professor Yunus will discuss his passion and vision for serving the poor through inclusive social businesses that serve poor households in Bangladesh, including Grameen Bank, GrameenPhone, and Grameen Danone Foods, an innovative joint venture with Groupe Danone.
This event is co-sponsored by NYU Wagner's Financial Access Initiative and NYU Stern.

Hack: Student EngagementPresented by Wagner Education Policy Alliance and Bridge: Students for Innovation

Roll up your sleeves, and join WEPSA and the Bridge Design Lab for a day of brainstorming and problem solving at this interactive event, loosely modeled on a hackathon.

According to recent surveys, just four in 10 U.S. high school students are engaged with school and two thirds of students are bored every day. Some argue that this is due to an excessive focus on standardized testing at the expense of critical thinking and other 21st century skills. Others are concerned that disengaged students drop out and become disconnected not just from school, but from the workforce and successful careers.

How might educational policies, practices, organizations and technologies make high school more engaging? In this day long workshop, participants will explore the role of relationships, support environments, and creative stimulation in engaging students while working together in interdisciplinary teams following a facilitated design thinking process. Experts from Match Education, the NYC Department of Education Office of Innovation, the Future Project, Knowre and more will help provide inspiration; the ultimate experts on high school, current students themselves will also join teams as participants in the team design process.

Language Matters: A Workshop on Public Service, Identity, and How we use LanguagePresented by the Stonewall Policy Alliance (SPA), the Association of Latinas and Allies in Public Service (ALAS), the Black Student Association (BSA), the Wagner Women's Caucus (WWC), and the Wagner International Student Society (WISS)

Language matters. This workshop will engage participants to think critically around issues of identity and language within the context of their public service careers. The workshop will draw direct links between language and its impact on public work and provide tools for students to sustain these discussions and thoughts post-workshop.